Lack of privacy mars maternity

Childbirth is made more difficult for women by a lack of space and privacy in the typical hospital labour room, a survey reveals today.

Nine out of 10 new mothers questioned by the National Childbirth Trust said their physical surroundings made a difference to their labour. More than a quarter (26%) said that being in clinical surroundings, in a room with stark white walls, no comfortable furnishings and resuscitation equipment on view, made giving birth harder to cope with.

Seventeen per cent of almost 700 women responding to the survey complained of too little space to move freely or walk around. Among those who said they had insufficient space, there was a higher rate of emergency caesarean sections, said the NCT - although it accepts there may not be a causal relationship.

Nearly half of the women (49%) had no control over who came into the room while they were in labour because staff and visitors entered without knocking. When women were asked what mattered most about the birth environment, they most frequently said they wanted a clean room; one in 25 felt their labour room was not clean.

Most felt the room was too clinical (58%) and would have liked a more homely feel to it, while 44% said they had to share toilet facilities and 38% said they had too few pillows, bean bags and mats to make them comfortable.

Conditions are better than they were, however, and three-fifths had access to a birthing pool, compared to two-fifths when the NCT conducted a similar survey in 2003.

"Birth rooms should be designed to meet women's needs. Women need to feel relaxed, comfortable and uninhibited," said Mary Newburn, NCT head of policy research.

"We want to see improvements in labour rooms across the UK. Many worthwhile changes don't cost a lot of money."

The Department of Health said the government had made £100m available to hospitals to improve the environment in maternity wards.